The Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) Commission has said all air ticket taxes across West Africa will be removed by January 1, 2026.
This is part of a sweeping regional policy to make air travel more affordable and deepen economic integration.
Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday on the new directive, the Director of Transport and Telecommunications at ECOWAS, Chris Appiah, said the decision was taken after a decade of studies confirmed that West Africa has “the most expensive air transport services on the continent.”
Appiah explained that the high cost of regional flights is driven largely by government taxes and aviation charges.
“If you buy a typical ticket in West Africa on any of the airlines, you realise that about 64 percent, sometimes it will be 70 percent of the ticket price is as a result of taxes and charges,” he said.
According to him, heads of state acknowledged the issue during their 2023 summit in Abuja and directed ministers of transport and finance to find a solution.
This led to the adoption of a supplementary act in December 2024, compelling member states to eliminate all air transport taxes and reduce aviation charges by 25 percent starting January 2026.
“From 1st January 2026, the heads of states have agreed that all member states should remove taxes on air transport.”
“These taxes are against the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s guidelines and suppress demand rather than support growth.”
He stressed that the new policy is central to ECOWAS’ integration agenda, which relies heavily on connectivity and the free movement of people, goods and services.
“ECOWAS stands for regional integration, and regional integration rides on connectivity. One of the main modes of connecting our member states is air transport.”
Appiah said four major taxes were identified across the region, including the commonly charged “security tax”, none of which, he noted, have any real link to aviation services. “For the taxes, they are removing it in totality.”
“What these taxes do is suppress demand, and air transport is not growing to support tourism, health, education and other sectors.”
He argued that lowering costs will stimulate demand, boost trade, and ultimately grow government revenue.
Using the example of traders, Appiah said, “If you want to buy goods from Lagos to Dakar, for instance, a trader will not pay less than $3,000 in tickets, and a lot of that is taxes.”
The ECOWAS transport director added that the commission is also engaging airlines to ensure they reduce fares once the tax and charge reforms take effect.
“We are working with the airlines themselves to make sure that when the taxes and charges are removed, they will also in turn reduce their tickets, so that the citizens of West Africa can travel freely,” he said.
He noted that regions such as North, East and Southern Africa are outperforming West Africa in air travel growth because their charges are far lower.
“Our charges are sometimes 67 percent more than any other region on the continent,” he said. “That is why airlines like Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airlines and Royal Air Maroc are doing very well, while our region is suffering.”
Appiah emphasised that the policy is not only for airlines or governments, but for all citizens of West Africa. “This is revenue for government because when taxes are reduced, demand goes up and lots of people start travelling,” he said.
He reiterated that ECOWAS will continue working with member states, parliaments and aviation stakeholders to ensure effective implementation by January 2026.
